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Lowry performs solidly without contending at US Open

Thursday, 22 June 2017

HE may have finished well down the leader board and never contended but Shane Lowry still avoided the fate of some of his big name colleagues when he competed at the US Open at a very long but low scoring Erin Hills Golf Club in Winconsin last weekend. Agonisingly close to winning this title last year, Lowry was a long way from those heroics as he finished joint 46th on 3 over for the tournament but at least he made the cut and got to play the weekend, unlike some of the favourites including his fellow Irish man, Rory McIlroy, world number 1 Dustin Johnson and Jason Day. It was a mixed bag of a tournament for the Clara professional but there were loads of positives to take out of it and he battled with everything he had on a course that produced much lower scores than usual for a US Open but still provided an abundance of trouble for anyone who was wayward off the tee or with their approach shots. He went well on the first day, playing solid golf as he finished with a -1 71 after three birdies and two bogeys but found himself in a dog fight on Friday as he battled to make the cut. Four bogeys and one birdie on the front 9 left him on 3 over for the day, 2 over for the tournament and looking at an early flight home but he rallied well on the back nine. Lowry had one bogey but birdies on the 13th and 16th saw him finish on a 2 over 74, 1 over for the tournament and right on the cut mark. He needed to go low on Saturday to get into contention but it didn't happen for him. He had a spate of pars early on before a bogey four on the 9th saw him turn in 37. Six more pars followed on the back 9 before he bogeyed the 16th and finished with a birdie four on the 18th for a 1 over 73, 2 over for the tournament. Another one over 73 on Sunday saw him finish on 3 over as he had two birdies and three bogeys and while he will have been disappointed not to mount a challenge, it was still far from a bad tournament for Lowry who earned $35,484 and watched on as Brooks Koepka landed his first major with some almost flawless golf. Lowry will now continue his preparations for the last two majors of the season, the British Open and the US PGA while next week, he is back on European soil for the French Open (June 29-July 2).